


To Listen

by ohmytheon



Category: One Piece
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Insecurity, Self Confidence Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:42:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23911012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmytheon/pseuds/ohmytheon
Summary: Aisa doesn't understand why Laki says she's special. She's not even brave or bold like the warriors of Shandia.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9
Collections: Women! Wanted Zine: Flash Fics





	To Listen

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a flash fiction prompt for the Women Wanted: One Piece zine! We're just to brush up on writing shorter pieces, which, if anyone looking at my AO3 can see, is not my forte. Also, me? Writing about the little kids? How typical.

It’s weird, Aisa thinks, that her first memory is of Laki. Shouldn’t it be her mom? Maybe it was, but whenever she tries to look back into her life, the first thing she pictures is Laki – smiling, sitting on her knees, and leaning in close, a handful of Vearth cupped in her hands. Only the two of them could see it, their little secret, hidden away from everyone else in the village.

As Aisa dug her chubby, little fingers in the Vearth, Laki whispered,  _ “This is special, just like you.” _

_ “I’m special?” _ Pride over the praise burned inside Aisa, along with confusion. She didn’t feel special; if anything, she was still so weak and little, nowhere near a warrior like Laki or Wyper.

Laki nodded.  _ “Yes, because you listen.” _

Truth be told, Aisa doesn’t always listen, and she didn’t back then either. She got into trouble a lot in the village, refused to grow out her hair, started arguments with other kids. Only Wyper is able to put her in her place with a single glare. For years, Aisa didn’t understand what Laki meant. It was only until their chief put a name to the voices that she realized she’d been listening all along.

It hadn’t occurred to her that no one else in the village could innately use Mantra like her. It was a part of her, just like that Vearth was a part of the Shandian past.

Today is one of the days Aisa resisted the urge to travel to the Upper Yard by herself. She knows it’s dangerous, but then she thinks of Laki’s warm smile, the gritty Vearth stuck under her nails, the solid feeling that the world was right, and she can’t help it. Instead, she finds herself crouched outside of the tent, watching Laki closely as the men do all the talking.

They always talk. Fight. Argue. Laki does too, but she’s also quiet. Aisa fights and argues more than she should, but she tries to be quiet like Laki. Sometimes, it’s too hard, her Mantra too loud. The world is crying, always crying, but the silence is even worse. It’s scarier than Wyper. All she can do is pray to someone that isn’t God that the warriors won’t go to war today.

She wants to be brave like Laki, Kamakiri, Wyper. She wants to be able to fight like them for the land that was taken from their people.

But she isn't, so she must settle for being brave like Aisa and listen to the voices drifting among the clouds and echoing in the sky for only her ears to hear.


End file.
